Archive for the 'Worst Dishes 2008' Category

Thank goodness, we had very few really bad dishes in 2008. But these, in no particular order, were the worst.

The beef tartare – zero taste – Les Fines Gueles – Paris

The next three dishes are from Clos des Sens – Annecy

Huitres Speciales, chou vert, caviar d’Aquitaine served with a wasabi Rouchefort sauce. Essentially this was a green cabbage, oyster, eggplant terrine encased in some sort of gelee. The dish was completely out of balance–the oysters got lost and all you tasted was cabbage – horrible. Clos des Sens – Annecy

A huge bowl of “salade de jeunes pousse de fleurs”…in our opinion “a bowl of weeds” There was no finesse, no creativity–just a bunch of baby shoots thrown in a glass bowl…dressing boring, over-all rating a 1/10.

Gratin d’ecrevisses recuisine or translated as a gratin of crayfish recooked. There was a crayfish mousse ball enclosing crayfish liquid with cooked crayfish, surrounding the ball. The ball sat on a square crayfish chip. The crayfish were overcooked and rubbery and the saucing way out of balance.

Shown is the final dish. This course was actually 3 dishes introduced separately and then put together as one dish. – Gagnaire – Paris

3. Tepid scallop tartare with small dice of cucumber topped with salmon eggs.

The waiter presented the beautiful scallop tartare, then poured on a large ladle of the soup and topped it off with the scallop ballottine. The cabbage completely obliterated the delicacy of the scallops. This was an example of the whole is worse than the parts. The final dish. What was a mess!

The beef was presented whole in the pan and returned to the kitchen for plating. The biggest disappointment was the macaroni that was a gluey mess of congealed noodles with zero taste of truffles and the foie was “missing in action”. Cotes St Jacques – Joigny

4 raw slices of scallops on a bed of carrot puree and hazelnuts. This had zero flavor. I have had over 12 scallop preparations on our March trip to France and this ranks as the worse – Le Ponts aux Chats – Strasbourg

Hoisin Glazed Baby octopus, Thai Pancetta, caramelized onion and Japanese eggplant – this was so tough and chewy that 2 bites was all we could manage. Spring – Chicago

Yellow Fin Tuna Ribbons, Avocado Puree, Spicy radish, Chili Oil, Ginger marinade – the saucing was added tableside and I found that the tuna was drowned out by the saucing which added a very unpleasant acidic note. Jean Georges – New York

Warm tuna carpaccio with roasted peaches, crispy guanciale and basil oil – what a mess. Thick slices of tuna on a bed of mushy something – could have been peaches, but sure didn’t taste like it. There was zero crunch so I am guessing the Guanciale was missing in action. That green glop on top was a paste of basil and oil – too much, way overpowering. Vicenti – Brentwood